A July 13, 2006 column (reprinted on July 17) by Steve Chapman on the use of smokeless tobacco instead of cigarettes as a method of harm reduction concludes with a quote from ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross:
Public-health zealots pretend that the only alternative to smoking is complete abstinence from tobacco. Gilbert Ross, executive and medical director of the American Council on Science and Health, says this approach is "condemning 45 million people to quit or die." Every year, hundreds of thousands of people end up with Option No. 2.
Things might be different if the government would mandate a new statement on each package of cigarettes: "Switching from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco reduces your risk of death and disease."
It's not a perfect solution. But it would keep a lot of people alive until a perfect solution comes along.
ACSH held an important conference on harm reduction four years ago.